Modern Gagra is a cozy resort, famous for its picturesque promenades and parks, drowning in greenery of flowers, palms and cypresses. A delightful feature of Gagra is that the mountains here come close to the coast, skirting the beaches with bright vegetation.

Particularly beautiful is the area of Old Gagra, where the shore offers a wonderful view of the mountains and the bay.

The mountains, crowned with snow caplets, create their own microclimate, protecting the city from cold winds and keeping warm sea breath.

The history of the appearance of Gagra as a city lies in the depths of centuries. In the II century BC it was founded by Greek merchants called Triglyph. The long chain of names of the city testifies to its complicated history: after Triglyph,it wore the Roman name Nikita, then Byzantine Trachea, later Kakara and Hakari, Venetian Contezi ("harbor") and Kakura, Persian Derbent ("iron gate") and Turkish Badalag (" high mountain").

The modern name of Gagra, according to some researchers, comes from the name of the ancient Abkhazian clan Gagaa, who lived in these places. In 1830, 20 years after the annexation of Abkhazia to Russia, the Gagra fortress was occupied by Russian troops.

The history of Gagra as a resort is inextricably linked with the name of the Prince of Oldenburg - akin to the Russian Tsar Nicholas II. The prince visited here in 1899 and planned to turn Gagra into a Russian Monte Carlo.

The Prince built a palace and a hydropathic institution, villas and mansions, gambling houses and cozy gazebos along the seacoast, he paved the way for the "Alpine Gagra" and laid the magnificent Seaside Park.

The Prince's intentions were directed to the device in Gagra of a high-altitude resort, in order to reduce the outflow of Russian gold for the cordon, which the rich public generously spent on foreign resorts.

Gagra stores numerous relics of ancient and modern history.

At the entrance to the city, on the left bank of the river Joequara, there are the remains of the wall of the legendary fortress of Abaat, built in the 4th-5th centuries AD for protection from foreigners. Beyond its walls there is the Gagra Bishops' Department - an ancient Christian temple of the 6th century, which belongs to the most ancient religious buildings of Abkhazia.